Sarbanes Statement on Trump Administration Announcement to End Protected Status for Salvadoran Immigrants

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from El Salvador in September 2019:

“The Trump Administration’s plan to end humanitarian protections for roughly 200,000 Salvadorans – including nearly 20,000 Salvadorans who reside in Maryland – not only cuts against American values but also harms our economy. TPS holders make enormous economic contributions to our nation and play a key role in enriching our society and our communities. It’s unconscionable and cruel for the Administration to upend livelihoods, tear families apart and force hundreds of thousands of people back to a country with one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world – a country that, by many accounts, could not accommodate such a large influx of returning Salvadorans.

“I am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress to reverse the Administration’s harmful decision, to provide security for hundreds of thousands of hard-working TPS holders in our country and to achieve bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform.”